Redwood Forests

You know that lovely picture of a misty forest that’s been tucked away at the bottom of our blog for ages? Alvin took that on his trip to Redwood National Park about 5 years ago. Last week I finally got to see the trees in person. Amazing and beautiful.

Alvin and I spent 4 days in California near the border of Oregon touring the state and national parks that boast 300-plus-foot redwood giants. The temperature was ideal – between 55 and 65 night and day. We hiked through the trees, did scenic drives, relaxed at bed and breakfasts, read, and played at the beach.

My sister Amber was gracious enough to stay home with Miles for the 4 days. This was my first trip without him since he was born! Okay, so I was worried about being gone for so long, and by day 3 I wished we were on our way home to see him. But he really was fine. (But for a few days when we go back, he seemed to have forgotten who is the boss.) About a month ago, I started telling Miles bedtime stories about how me and dad were going to fly in the airplane to California and Amber was going to stay at our house and take Miles to nursery. I think it helped! When Amber asked him where we were, he said, “California.” And she wore him out with fun activities – riding the train at the zoo, playing at the park, and meet boyfriends’ nieces and nephews. (Yes, I meant to put the apostrophe after the ‘s.’)

Here's a picture of Alvin climbing the massive roots of a fallen tree:

The trip wasn’t completely without child because . . . I am with child. (Hee, hee.) You can see a 4-month bump in the picture below. Pregnancy really takes a toll on my energy level - we did an easy 6-mile ramble through the woods on the first day, and the rest of the trip I could barely get one foot in front of the other!

This is Miles camping in Fairview Canyon. Alvin took him overnight up to the cabin for the 4th of July, and they loved it! Alvin came home and said, "And when it was time for bed, Miles said, 'Okay, Dad,' and went right to sleep." I asked what time that would have been. "Oh, ten or ten-thirty," Alvin admitted. No wonder he slept well!